


Reunited

by SamanthaGirlScout



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 06:46:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9223676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamanthaGirlScout/pseuds/SamanthaGirlScout
Summary: After the sudden revocation of her Miraculous following Hawk Moth's defeat, Marinette is left hoping that her partner will remember their promise to meet again.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maerynn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerynn/gifts).



About one year into her partnership with Chat Noir, the duo had promised each other that, once they had defeated Hawk Moth they would reveal their identities to each other.  At first, the promise had been intimidating to Marinette. There was no telling how either of them would react to their civilian identities, but, as time wore on and they faced harder and harder challenges in and out of their suits… the more it felt right.

She couldn't deny that it made her nervous to consider how vulnerable she would then be to him. He would be the only person who would have the chance to know him as a whole. But it was also exciting because Chat Noir was one of her best friends. Revealing themselves meant that there would be chances that they could drop the professional atmosphere between them and just have fun together. That wasn't to say that they hadn't had  _any_  fun, but the ever-present threat Hawk Moth posed to them was like an overhanging cloud that they couldn't quite shake.

And, while she was able to have fun with her friends, she still held part of herself back when she was around them. She feared that if she did she would be putting someone in danger. It didn't matter whether that was her, her family, her friends, or her city. If someone that she  _didn't_ trust found out her secret, there was no telling what would happen. So she clung to the hope of a future where she could have someone in her life that would provide her some relief from all of her secrets who wasn't the source of those secrets.

The meeting hadn't been something that they discussed at length, but eventually they had settled vaguely on how they would meet up. Exactly one week following Hawk Moth's defeat at about eleven in the morning they would meet under their favorite spot— the Eiffel Tower. He would wear something ladybug related and she something cat related. Then, after introductions, the pair would make their way to someplace private to get to know each other even better.

That night, when Chat had insisted that they come up with all of these conditions, she had thought him ridiculous. There wasn't any reason to worry, honestly. And she told him as much as she reassured him that they would have plenty of time to figure out the specifics after defeating their arch nemesis.  

It wasn't as if they would suddenly stop being superheroes after his defeat, after all. 

But, it appeared as though Chat's fears had been founded. Because, the morning after Hawk Moth's defeat, Marinette awoke to find a sick feeling in her stomach, her ears empty, a note beside her computer.

Once she saw the salutation, it had been almost impossible to read the note through her tears. It took her a long time to make sense of the words, but in it was revealed to her that the Great Guardian needed to leave Paris. He was apparently pushing his luck by putting off selecting a replacement for himself. Now that he had been able to recover all of the Miraculous, it was imperative that he found someone quickly, else he risked the possibility of the world losing all of the sacred items to the wrong hands. He apologized for the sudden removal of her and her partner's miraculous, but he sensed that Paris would be safe now. And that he would just barely find a replacement before the world would be in peril yet again.

As the note came to a close he thanked her for her service and left her details of a reward for her. He assured her that all she would need to do was show up at the bank with the information and that she should do with it as she wished. He told her that she had done so much for the city that she should not hesitate to reward herself for her hard work or save it for a time when she was in desperate need of it. And, in closing, he wished her prosperity in whatever she chose to do with her future.

She sat in devastated silence for an indeterminate time after she had finished reading the letter. All she could do was cry until she was out of tears as she read the letter over and over again. She hoped desperately that it was just some nightmare. But she didn't dare move to pinch herself lest she reveal that it was, indeed, not a dream.

She didn't move until her mother came to check on her. No doubt her mother had already called to her about how late she was going to be and, when she hadn't responded, she came up to check on her. Sabine paused at the top of the stairs and took in her daughter's heartbroken appearance and immediately came to her side.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" She asked quietly as she knelt beside her daughter and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her touch seemed to jar her daughter from her immobile state because, moments later, Marinette was clinging to her sobbing yet again. 

Sabine did the best that she could to console Marinette. But, no matter what she said or did, she wasn't able to calm down her distraught daughter. Her heart clenched as she resigned herself to simply hold her child until she cried herself out. After almost an hour of pure distress, her crying calmed enough for her mother to pry the crumpled letter from her hands.

Marinette felt fear grip her as her mother's eyes roved over the words. She could barely breathe as understanding dawned on mother's face. The former heroine was moments away from bolting out of fear when she watched her mother gently set the letter down on the ground beside them— when had she ended up on the floor? She shook the question from her head and watched her mother wearily as the woman paused to consider her. 

"Oh, Marinette," Sabine said quietly as she reached forward to gently caress her face. Marinette watched as tears filled her mother's eyes and was shocked when her mother pulled her into another tight embrace. She had been sure that her mother would be upset with her, but it seemed as though she had been wrong. She couldn't quite make out the watery words of comfort washing over her, but she knew she wasn't upset with her.

She was upset  _for_  her. 

Her mother's words seemed to unlock her own and Marinette found herself babbling about everything that she had been keeping a secret. She wasn't sure how much her mother truly understood in that moment, but she knew that Sabine would try to understand her nonetheless.

 

* * *

 

Today was the day.

She had barely slept the night before. Plagued with worry over whether Chat would show up or not, Marinette could do nothing to shut her mind off. She knew that they had promised each other, and neither had betrayed one so far, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t possible that he wouldn’t forget or be completely unable to make it. But then wouldn’t he find someone to let her know that?

She went back and forth over her worries throughout the whole night. She was sure that she had received less than an hour of sleep. But, instead of rolling back over as she normally would, when her alarm clock went off at its usual time she chose to get up immediately.

She took her time in the shower and made sure to arrange her hair into pigtails. Throughout the years she had chosen to wear her hair in different styles, but Ladybug was known for her pigtails. And, because she didn’t want to risk Chat not recognizing her, she made sure to do them as similarly as she could without magic.

As she was assembling her outfit, it occurred to Marinette that she should probably tell her mother about meeting Chat today. After the initial shock of losing her Miraculous she had calmly explained, to both of her parents, everything that she thought that she could. They had been beyond understanding and gone so far as calling the school to excuse her and to allow her to openly grieve the loss of it all.

Her friendship with Tikki had been especially hard on her. It was especially hard considering the fact that they had been unable to say goodbye to each other. And, every time that she considered her own pain she wondered if Chat was hurting as much as she was. They hadn't really spoken a lot about their kwamis, but she couldn't imagine him missing his kwami any less.

After an extended weekend of unconditional understanding from both of her parents, Marinette felt as though she was healed enough to face school once again. She was surprised when her parents had offered to allow her to stay home as long as she needed. She truly appreciated the gesture, but she knew that if she stayed home much longer then she would cause too much suspicion and potentially fall too far behind in school.

But, despite talking to her parents about her secret, she had not even considered mentioning it to her parents. It seemed as though it was supposed to be something private between the two of them. And, besides, she had spent years sneaking around, so what was one more day in the grand scheme of things?

But, as she paused in the process of getting dressed, it occurred to Marinette that she could potentially avoid unnecessary complications with school. It would be a lot easier on her if she was able to just skip the whole day instead of trying to sneak without the cover of an akuma attack. And, as much as she had learned to trust Chat, the logical side of her told her that she should at least tell  _someone_ that she was going to be meeting him in case they both were ambushed or something similar.

"Marinette?" Sabine called from below, "Are you about ready for breakfast? You'll be late if you stay up there any longer." 

Marinette jolted from her thoughts as she called a "Coming, Mom!" over her shoulder and made quick work of finishing getting dressed. She paused for a moment to admire her outfit. She wore simple blue jeans with a black T-shirt with a green pawprint in the center. And, dangling from her neck, was an ornate bell necklace. Both the shirt and necklace had been gifts from her partner following her lifting of their gift ban. The shirt was relatively easy to come by at this point, but the necklace was obviously a one-of-a-kind gift. Because, while she was sure that gold bell necklaces existed somewhere on the internet, none of them had an accompanying gold tag that read 'My Lady' on one side and 'Forever' on the other.

She grabbed her favorite pink sweatshirt and stumbled downstairs as she zipped it as high as it could go.  She was still attempting to figure out exactly how she would explain the situation to her mother when the woman turned around. When Sabine saw her daughter in the doorway and smiled kindly at her.

"Good morning, sweetie," she said as she placed the last items for her daughter's breakfast on the table. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing as best as I can," she said with a shrug of her shoulders as she sat down in front of the regular spread of fruit, bread, and yogurt and began to prepare to eat it.

"That's all we can ask for." Sabine put a comforting hand on Marinette's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Do you have anything exciting planned for today?"

"Actually…" Marinette gave her mother a nervous glance before continuing. "A long time ago Chat and I talked about how we'd meet up a week after defeating Hawk Moth."

Sabine tilted her head slightly. "I thought that you had said that the two of you didn't know each other's identities."

"We don't," she said as she came to the conclusion that stirring her yogurt was more important than meeting her mother's gaze. "But, we wanted to after taking care of Hawk Moth. We didn't exactly finalize plans before losing our Miraculous, but if I know Chat as well as I do he'll be there."

"I see. And when and where is that going to be?"

"Today at eleven under the Eiffel Tower."

"Marinette,” Sabine said as she crossed her arms. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"I-I guess I'm just so used to not saying anything that I didn't think about it?"

Her mother let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. "Marinette-"

"Mom." She stopped stirring and looked at her mom. She felt a resolve that she had not felt for a few days now fill her as she held her ground as firmly as she could. "I'm sorry, but I can't risk losing him forever. Chat h-he means a lot to me. And, even if he doesn’t show up today, I don't want to risk never seeing him ever again."

The women stared at each other for a long time. Marinette was sure that her mother was upset with her on some level. But, the former heroine also knew that there was no force in the whole of the earth that would be able to keep her from making an effort to see her partner today. It didn't matter if her parents grounded her to her room, the authorities arrested her, or someone attempted to kill her.

Nothing could keep her from being at the Eiffel Tower today at eleven.

Sabine’s shoulders relaxed as she uncrossed her arms. "I understand, sweetie. I only wish you'd said something sooner." She reached forward to caress her daughter's cheek lovingly. "If you'd said something sooner your father and I would have rescheduled the Marais’ cake consultation so that we could be more available to you."

"Oh," Marinette laughed sheepishly as she reached up to squeeze her mom’s hand, which Sabine returned readily. "Sorry, I'm still not used to being able to tell you about superhero stuff."  
  
"It's fine, sweetie. Your father and I know it'll be a process. Now, how about I go call the school to say that you'll be missing the whole day? I'm assuming that you planned to skip school regardless?"

Marinette avoided her mother's knowing look in favor of working on her breakfast. She felt her cheeks flush as Sabine laughed and left the room to call the school. Despite her slight embarrassment, she felt abundantly grateful for her mother's foresight.

"Thanks," she said as she heard her mother reenter the room. She looked up at her mother. "It really means a lot that you're being so understanding."

"You're more than welcome." She leaned forward and set a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Now, I know you hadn't finalized any plans with him, but are the two of you simply meeting and exchanging contact information or will you be wanting to hang out afterwards?"

"I don’t know exactly. I think we talked about finding someplace to talk afterwards, but we didn't get any further than that."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Marinette nodded. "Why don't the two of you come back here afterwards? I can make lunch for the two of you and then, afterwards, the two of you can talk all that you want without worrying about someone interrupting."

"That’s a really great idea, mom!" The girl threw her arms around her mother. "Thank you so much. I don't know for sure what he'll want to do, but I'll be sure to mention it as a possibility."

"It's not a problem. Heaven knows how much your father and I owe him for keeping you safe these past few years. There is one thing that I will insist on, though." Sabine pulled back and gave her daughter a stern look, "I will need you to text me on a regular basis. I imagine that there is nothing to worry about, but I want you to be safe. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mom."

"Alright, well finish up eating and do a bit of your school work before you head out. I don't want you falling too far behind."  Marinette laughed before agreeing to do so with one more affectionate hug.

Someday she’d find a way to express just how grateful she was for what her parents did for her.

 

* * *

 

Because of the fact that she was able to skip the whole day, Marinette decided to arrive a whole hour early. Her mother had offered to drive her there, but she refused. She needed some time to herself beforehand to gather her thoughts and her mother seemed to understand that enough not to push the issue. They did agree that Marinette would text her mom every half hour she was gone. And, if her mother didn't receive a text, she would then proceed to call her. It seemed a bit excessive, but Marinette could understand their worry and allowed it regardless.  

"Bye, Dad!" Marinette called to her father as she exited through the bakery. Her father turned from a customer to envelop her in a hug as she passed by.

"Have a good time and keep us informed, alright?"

Marinette squeezed back before pulling away. "Will do. Hope the cake planning goes well!"

"Oh I'm sure it will. See you soon, darling!" The two waved at each other before she disappeared through the front entrance. She allowed the door to shut fully behind her before making her way towards the metro.

She had considered walking, but the lingering winter chill cut through her sweatshirt enough to drive her below. It was supposed to be a warm spring day, but the intermittent shadows cast on the streets held a bit more cold than she liked. Marinette hoped that as the day wore on that it would warm up enough for her to be comfortable in the sunlight as well.

The train car was mostly empty when it came to a stop before her. She hurried inside and took a seat while rubbing her arms to warm herself up more. The metro itself was rather chilly, but not nearly as much as it was outside with the breeze and shadow.

She felt a pang in her heart as she realized that, prior to now, she would have chosen to transform in order to avoid the chill and enjoy the trek across the city. She didn't know how exactly Tikki had been able to keep her from feeling it, but it had been nice. Especially on days like today when she could enjoy the feeling of the wind while swinging across Paris on the way to her destination without any of the sting. 

Marinette reached up to fiddle with her empty earlobes. She had found that she had adopted a new habit of rubbing them when she was thinking about her old life too much. It did little to alleviate the ache in her heart, but it did help her ears to feel less naked. She knew that they would close eventually if she didn't put anything in them, but every time that she had tried to put in one of her old pairs she had been unable to do so. It had been years since she had worn any others and it felt so  _wrong_  to wear anything else.  

She absently noticed that she was approaching the next stop, but the girl did little beyond sit there. She still had a few more stops left before she would need to exit to the street and make her way to her final destination.  

She idly wondered if Chat had replaced his Miraculous, or if he had chosen to leave his finger empty as well.

"Oh, hey Marinette."  Marinette looked away from where she had been staring to find Adrien Agreste staring at her from where he stood just barely inside of the doors. He wore a look of surprise that mirrored her own.

Marinette felt her stomach drop a bit at the sight of him. 

With the defeat of Hawk Moth there had been the revelation that he had been Gabriel Agreste all along. It had been hard to learn that the father of her classmate, and someone she had admired for years, had been terrorizing all of Paris for years.

Due to the circumstances they had been unable to prevent Paris from learning his identity and the backlash had been beyond detrimental. His trial wouldn't be held for some time still, but there weren't very many souls that didn't cry out for his head to roll. 

Unfortunately, many of the city took their outrage on anything indirectly tied to Gabriel as well.

The Gabriel brand lost all of its reputation in one night. No one dare wear anything with the brand's name or fear retribution. Stock holders sold their shares as quickly as possible or cut their ties.

It seemed that almost overnight the man’s legacy was left in shambles.

There had also been a few people who held malice towards anyone associated for him as well. So, in order to preserve his own safety, Adrien had yet to return to school. She knew from what Nino had said that he would be returning soon. But his body guard and secretary, who were apparently now responsible for his well-being, insisted that he keep a low profile until the hype had died down.

So, running into him now of all times was a complete surprise to her.

"H-Hey Adrien. Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck as the doors came to a close behind him. "Though I could say the same to you. Decide to skip school?"

"You could say that." She let out a nervous laugh before an awkward fell between them and they were left staring at each other.

She felt herself searching his person for anything Ladybug-related, but all she found was the familiar scarf that she had given him when they were younger tucked into his usual peacoat. She had long ago admitted to having made it. And, while he'd been disappointed that she didn't tell him sooner, he refused to replace it. The sight of it calmed her enough for her to summon her strength to talk to him. 

"H-how have you been?" Marinette said to break the silence that was well beyond awkward. She made a point to pat the open seat next to her. She watched as his shoulders sagged slightly as he approached her. She couldn't help wincing at her own question. She should have known that it would be a sore subject. She was about to retract her question, but he spoke before she could open her mouth. 

"I've… been better," he shrugged as he came to join her. "I mean as well as someone _can_ be after finding out that their father's been terrorizing a whole city."

"Sorry I didn't mean-"

Adrien laughed as he gently patted her arm. "It's fine. To be honest I think the hardest part has been being stuck inside of the house for so long. I mean, of course I'm mad at what my dad did, but…" His eyes became distant as he looked outside of the car as they pulled away from another platform. He let out a sigh before smiling tightly at her. "Let's just say that I thought a walk outside would do me some good. How about you though? You don't usually skip school without some reason."

"I have an… appointment," she said vaguely. She made a point to change the topic quickly. "Would it help if we came and visited you? I know Nino said that you couldn't leave for a while still, but that doesn't mean that you have to be deprived from all human contact right?"

She watched as his smile relaxed a bit into one that she much preferred. "I'd really appreciate that. I don't think that it'll take a lot to convince Nathalie to let you guys come and visit. Though, we'd probably have to let her know ahead of time just to be safe." 

"That makes sense." Marinette looked away to look out the opposite window. She had so many questions for him. She especially wanted him to open up about his father, but she knew from experience not to press him too much. As close as they had become over the years since her initial crush, she knew that he was a private person by nature. She was blessed to be a part of his inner circle of friends, but it took him a long time to open up to Nino about his mother and even longer to Alya and herself. 

Having secrets of her own, she could empathize, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to be there for him if he wished to spill his own. She was sure that there were remnants of her crush somewhere inside of her, but it had seemed to calm down over time. And, in the process, she had realized that, if she had to choose between her feelings and his friendship, she would always choose his friendship.

Which made all of the difference in settling her nerves when she was around him.

"Are you going anywhere specific?" Marinette asked as the train came to another stop. She idly took note that the next stop would be hers before turning to her friend.

"The Eiffel Tower," Adrien said with a wistful smile on his face that she was sure he hadn't meant to let slip because, as he turned to meet her gaze, it slipped away to be replaced by a more controlled one. "I thought it would be nice to go see it before tourist season started up again, you know?"

His answer gave her pause. What were the chances that he was going to the same place that she was planning to meet her former partner? Marinette's eyes became a bit more critical as she looked him over again. Nothing had changed from her first assessment, but she couldn't help but notice the similarities that Alya had pointed out all the way in the beginning of her superhero career. 

To be completely honest, Marinette had not put much thought into the idea that Chat was someone she already knew. She always assumed that they didn't know each other, but as she continued to stare at Adrien, the idea seemed more and more plausible.

But, she didn't want to make hasty assumptions. So, before her staring could come off as creepy she tore her eyes away from him. She supposed that she would find out soon enough, but perhaps she could get away with a bit more prodding before they arrived at their shared destination. "That sounds like fun. Are you just going there or…?”

"Probably. Though, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and get to go to a café or something later." He shrugged. "It all depends on how quickly Nathalie realizes that I'm missing."

Marinette gasped. "Wait, you didn't tell her that you were leaving?"

"Naw. There wasn't any reason to bother her. Besides I've snuck out enough times by now that she's probably been worried that I  _haven't_  snuck out until now."

"I guess that's fair enough," she laughed. A moment later the car slowed down and they simultaneously stood up. He raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. She supposed that she could throw him a bone. "As it happens my appointment is at the Eiffel Tower."

"Really?" She watched as his eyes became immediately suspicious. She moved towards the doors that would be opening soon. "You know you never told me what your appointment was for."

Marinette made a point to merely shrug and not give him an answer as the train came to a stop. The doors opened and she immediately took off towards the exit. She heard Adrien let out a startled cry of her name and then he was hot on her heels. "I'll tell you when we get there! I don't want to be late."

She didn't slow down after that. She felt more than saw Adrien catch up to her and then easily match her pace. Her jogging made it difficult to hold a conversation so, outside of one more attempt on her friend's part, they didn't talk.

It wasn't until they were directly under the Eiffel Tower that she finally came to a halt. While the metro stop had been relatively close to the tower, there had been enough distance and sun to cause both of them to start sweating a bit. Her sweatshirt felt stifling. So, once she stopped at exactly the center of the landmark, she started to unzip it.

"Marinette, seriously, what's gotten into—" Adrien's sentence immediately died on his lips as her necklace and shirt came into full view. She felt her stomach fill with butterflies as a very sudden tension formed between them.

She had never worn the necklace before due to how easily it would have been to identify her. She wasn’t surprised that the unique piece of jewelry would have given someone pause.

But the  _recognition_  that she saw in his eyes was unmistakable.

" _Where_ —" He cleared his throat in an attempt to gain control over his warbly voice before continuing. "Where did you get that necklace?"

"A friend gave it to me," Marinette said quietly. His eyes snapped up to her own and he began to search her eyes as she continued. "See, we agreed to meet here at eleven today under our spot and wear something related to the other. I thought I'd get here a bit early to make sure that I didn't miss him but…"

She trailed off as he hastily undid the buttons of his coat to reveal a red shirt. On it, in bold black lettering, was: 'X marks the spot' with a copy of her yo-yo's design below it. She stared at it for almost a full minute, her mind blank, before she burst out in uproarious laughter.

Adrien soon joined her and, a moment later, she felt herself pulled into one of the tightest hugs she had ever felt. She returned it readily and felt relief wash over her. Marinette noticed the moment that his shaking switched from laughing into barely restrained sobs. The arms around her tightened further as he rested his head heavily on her shoulder.

"I thought—"His voice broke and Marinette began to rub comforting circles into his back. She remained silent as he collected himself. It took him a while before he could calm himself enough to continue. "I thought I'd lost you forever."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Kitty," she said thickly as her own tears spilled over. She felt him chuckle through his own tears as he finally relaxed into her embrace.

"That's good to hear, My Lady. That’s good to hear."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this, Maerynn! I couldn't quite fit post-reveal besties in such a short amount of time, but if I choose to continue that's certainly where it's headed!!
> 
> To everyone else:   
> Thank you so much for reading! I may or may not continue this, but please don't hold me to it since I do have a big story coming out soon! For now It's simply a one-shot to be enjoyed as it is! And lastly, please let me know what you think!


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